The present invention relates to an improved lancing devicefor effecting bleeding by puncturing the skin of an individual to permit collecting a few drops of blood for diagnostic purposes or the like medical use.
It is known to puncture the skin with a lancet retaining body which is used in combination with a separate mechanical apparatus including a biased striker mechanism and a device to release said striker. The striker mechanism has a support for mounting a lancet retaining body therein. Such an apparatus is expensive to manufacture and time-consuming in use. When the lancet is mounted in the support there is the danger of the sterile lancet being accidently touched with the fingers or other objects with consequent danger of bacterial contamination of the lancet. It is also not possible to make the lancet tip invisible for the patient.
Furthermore, in the known lancets or blood letting devices the puncture is produced by a needle having a pointed tip, which may sometimes have a small bevel for facilitating entry into the shin. In all cases, however, the needle punctures the skin and the underlying tissue, resulting in a hole created by pushing and forcing the tissue radially outward. Such needles produce a small hole through which only a very small amount of blood escapes and results in a severe traumatic effect to both skin and tissue, requiring treatment over an extended period.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide an improved medical lancet means which can be produced more economically and which can be used more conveniently and safely than previously designed lancets.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improved needle for a lancet which produces increased blood flow with reduced traumatic impact.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a lancing devicewhich does not require packaging in a separate wrapper in order to ensure the sterility thereof and which makes use of all members thereof for the incision including the member that protect the lancet tip.
These and other objects of this invention will become apparent from the detailed description and the claims to follow when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawing.